by G. A. Henty
It was late in June when the Madras sailed up the Thames; and, as soon as she came to anchor, the two officers and their followers landed. The din and bustle of the streets seemed almost as strange, to Charlie, as they had done when he came up a boy, from Yarmouth. Hossein was astonished at the multitude of white people, and inquired of Charlie why, when there were so many men, England had sent so few soldiers to fight for her in India; and for once, Charlie was unable to give a satisfactory reply.
"It does seem strange," he said to Peters, "that when such mighty interests were at stake, a body of even ten thousand troops could not have been raised, and sent out. Such a force would have decided the struggle at once; and in three months the great possessions, which have cost the Company twelve years' war, would have been at their feet. It would not have cost them more; indeed, nothing like as much as it now has done, nor one tithe of the loss in life. Somehow, England always seems to make war in driblets."
Charlie knew that his mother and Kate had, for some years, been residing at a house which their uncle had taken, in the fashionable quarter of Chelsea. They looked in at the office, however, to see if Charlie's uncle was there; but found that he was not in the city, and, indeed, had now almost retired from the business. They therefore took a coach, placed the small articles of luggage which they had brought with them, from the ship, on the front seats; and then, Hossein and Tim taking their places on the broad seat beside the driver, they entered the coach and drove to Chelsea.
Charlie had invited Peters, who had no home of his own, to stay with him, at least for a while. Both were now rich men, from their shares of the prize money of the various forts and towns, in whose capture they had taken part; although Charlie possessed some twenty thousand pounds more than his friend, this being the amount of the presents he had received, from the Rajah of Ambur.
Alighting from the carriage, Charlie ran up to the door and knocked. Inquiring for Mrs. Marryat, he was shown into a room in which a lady, somewhat past middle age, and three younger ones were sitting. They looked up, in surprise, as the young man entered. Ten years had changed him almost beyond recognition, but one of the younger ones at once leaped to her feet, and exclaimed, "Charlie!"
His mother rose with a cry of joy, and threw herself into his arms. After rapturously kissing her, he turned to the others. Their faces were changed, yet all seemed equally familiar to him, and in his delight he equally embraced them all.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, when he freed himself from their arms. "Why, there are three of you! What on earth am I doing? I have somebody's pardon to beg; and yet, although your faces are changed, they seem equally familiar to me. Which is it?
"But I need not ask," he said, as a cloud of colour flowed over the face of one of the girls, while the others smiled mischievously.
"You are Katie," he said, "and you are Lizzie, certainly, and this is--why, it is Ada!
"This is a surprise, indeed; but I sha'n't beg your pardon, Ada, for I kissed you at parting, and quite intended to do so when I met again, at least if you had offered no violent objection.
"How you are all grown and changed, while you, Mother, look scarcely older than when I left you.
"But there, I have quite forgotten Peters. He has come home with me, and will stay till he has formed his own plans."
He hurried out and brought in Peters; who, not wishing to be present at the family meeting, had been paying the coachman, and seeing to the things being brought into the house. He was warmly received, by the ladies, as the friend and companion of Charlie in his adventures; scarcely a letter having been received, from the latter, without mention having been made of his comrade.
In a minute or two Mr. Tufton, who had been in the large garden behind the house, hurried in. He was now quite an old man; and under the influence of age, and the cheerful society of Mrs. Marryat and her daughters, he had lost much of the pomposity which had before distinguished him.
"Ah! Nephew," he said, when the happy party had sat down to dinner, their number increased by the arrival of Mrs. Haines, who had a house close by; "wilful lads will go their own way. I wanted to make a rich merchant of you, and you have made of yourself a famous soldier. But you've not done badly for yourself after all; for you have, in your letters, often talked about prize money."
"Yes, Uncle. I have earned, in my way, close upon a hundred thousand pounds; and I certainly shouldn't have made that if I had stuck to the office at Madras, even with the aid of the capital you offered to lend me, to trade with on my own account."
There was a general exclamation of surprise and pleasure, at the mention of the sum; although this amount was small, in comparison to that which many acquired, in those days, in India.
"And you're not thinking of going back again, Charlie?" his mother said, anxiously. "There can be no longer any reason for your exposing yourself to that horrible climate, and that constant fighting."
"The climate is not so bad, Mother, and the danger and excitement of a soldier's life there, at present, render it very fascinating. But I have done with it. Peters and I intend, on the expiration of our leave, to resign our commissions in the Company's service, and to settle down under our own vines and fig trees. Tim has already elected himself to the post of my butler, and Hossein intends to be my valet and body servant."
Immediately after their arrival, Charlie had brought in his faithful followers and introduced them to the ladies; who, having often heard of their devotion and faithful services, had received them with a kindness and cordiality which had delighted them.
Lizzie, whose appearance at home had been unexpected by Charlie, for her husband was a landed gentleman at Seven Oaks, in Kent, was, it appeared, paying a visit of a week to her mother; and her three children, two boys and a little girl, were duly brought down to be shown to, and admired by, their Uncle Charles.
"And how is it you haven't married, Katie? With such a pretty face as yours, it is scandalous that the men have allowed you to reach the mature age of twenty-two, unmarried."
"It is the fault of the hussy herself," Mr. Tufton said. "It is not from want of offers, for she has had a dozen, and among them some of the nobility at court; for it is well known that John Tufton's niece will have a dowry such as many of the nobles could not give, to their daughters."
"This is too bad, Kate," Charlie said, laughing. "What excuse have you to make for yourself for remaining single, with all these advantages of face and fortune?"
"Simply that I didn't like any of them," Katie said. "The beaux of the present day are contemptible. I would as soon think of marrying a wax doll. When I do marry; that is, if ever I do, it shall be a man, and not a mere tailor's dummy."
"You are pert, miss," her uncle said.
"Do what I will, Charlie, I cannot teach the hussy to order her tongue."
"Katie's quite right, Uncle," Charlie laughed. "And I must make it my duty to find a man who will suit her taste; though, according to your account of her, he will find it a hard task to keep such a Xanthippe in order."
Katie tossed her head.
"He'd better not try," she said saucily, "or it will be worse for him."
Two days later, Charlie's elder sister returned with her family to her house at Sevenoaks; where Charlie promised, before long, to pay her a visit. After she had gone, Charlie and Peters, with Katie, made a series of excursions to all the points of interest, round London; and on these occasions Ada usually accompanied them.
The natural consequences followed. Charlie had, for years, been the hero of Ada's thoughts; while Katie had heard so frequently of Peters that she was, from the first, disposed to regard him in the most favourable light. Before the end of two months, both couples were engaged; and as both the young officers possessed ample means, and the ladies were heiresses, there was no obstacle to an early union.
The weddings took place a month later; and Tim was, in the exuberance of his delight, hilariously drunk for the first and only time during his service with Charlie. Both gentlemen bou
ght estates in the country, and later took their seats in Parliament, where they vigorously defended their former commander, Lord Clive, in the assaults which were made upon him.
Tim married, seven or eight years after his master, and settled down in a nice little house upon the estate. Although, henceforth, he did no work whatever; he insisted, to the end of his life, that he was still in Colonel Marryat's service.
Hossein, to the great amusement of his master and mistress, followed Tim's example. The pretty cook of Charlie's establishment made no objection to his swarthy hue. Charlie built a snug cottage for them, close to the house, where they took up their residence; but Hossein, though the happy father of a large family, continued, to the end of a long life, to discharge the duties of valet to his master.
Both he and Tim were immense favourites with the children of Charlie and Peters, who were never tired of listening to their tales of the exploits of their fathers, when with Clive in India.
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